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  Spain
  Spain (ⁱ/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
  Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
  
  wn.com/Spain
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  United States
  The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
  At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
  
  wn.com/United_States
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  Yemen
  The Republic of Yemen (Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية‎ al-Jumhūrīyah al-Yamanīyah), commonly known as Yemen ⁱ/ˈjɛmən/ (Arabic: اليَمَن‎ al-Yaman), is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east. Yemen is considered one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. Its capital and largest city is Sana'a. Yemen's territory includes over 200 islands, the largest of which is Socotra, about 415 km (258 mi) to the south of mainland Yemen, off the coast of Somalia. It is the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a purely republican form of government. Approximately 53% of Yemenis are Sunnis, while 45% are Zaydi Shias.
  One etymology derives Yemen from yamin, meaning "on the right side", as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise. Another derives Yemen from yumn, meaning "felicity", as the region is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) as opposed to Arabia Deserta (Deserted Arabia), which was their term for northern Arabia.
  
  wn.com/Yemen

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  Abbas El Fassi
  Abbas El Fassi (Arabic: عباس الفاسي‎; born on September 18, 1940, In Berkane, Morocco) was the Prime Minister of Morocco from 19 September 2007 to 29 November 2011. El Fassi, a member of the Istiqlal Party, replaced independent Driss Jettou.
  El Fassi was born in Berkane, Morocco on September 18, 1940. He served as the Minister of Housing from 1977 to 1981, Minister of Handicraft and Social Affairs from 1981 to 1985, Ambassador to Tunisia and the Arab League from 1985 to 1990, Ambassador to France from 1990 to 1994, and as Minister of Employment, Professional training, Social Development and Solidarity from 2000 to 2002. He then took up the post of Minister of State in the Jettou government from 2002 to 2007.King Mohammed VI appointed El Fassi as Prime Minister on September 19, 2007 following Istiqlal's victory in the parliamentary elections on September 7.
  His government was appointed by Mohammed VI on October 15, with 33 members (not including El Fassi), including seven women. Five political parties were included in this government: Istiqlal, liberal Mouvement Populaire (MP), the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), the National Rally of Independents (RNI), and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).
  
  wn.com/Abbas_El_Fassi
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  Abdelaziz Bouteflika
  Abdelaziz Bouteflika (Arabic pronunciation: [ʕaːbd lʕziz butfliqaː]; Arabic: عبد العزيز بوتفليقة‎) (born 2 March 1937) is an Algerian politician who has been the fifth President of Algeria since 1999. He presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002, and he ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest.
  He has also served as president of the United Nations General Assembly.
  Abdelaziz Bouteflika was born on 2 March 1937 in Oujda, Morocco. He was the first child of his mother and the second child of his father (Fatima, his half-sister, preceded him). His father (Ahmed Bouteflika) and mother (Mansouria Ghezlaoui) originated from the region of Tlemcen. Bouteflika has three half-sisters (Fatima, Yamina, and Aïcha), as well as four brothers (Abdelghani, Mustapha, Abderahim and Saïd) and one sister (Latifa). Saïd serves as Abdelaziz Bouteflika's personal physician, and is said by some to be an important figure in Bouteflika's inner circle of advisers.
  Bouteflika was raised in Oujda, where his father had emigrated as a youngster. He successively attended three schools there: "Sidi Ziane", "El Hoceinia" and the "Abdel Moumen" high-school, where he reportedly excelled academically. He was also affiliated with Kadiri Zaouia in Oujda.
  
  wn.com/Abdelaziz_Bouteflika
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  Ali
  Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب, Transliteration: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [ʕaliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤɑːlib]; 13^thRajab, 24 BH–21^stRamaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661). The son of Abu Talib, Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shia branches.
  Muslim sources, especially Shia ones, state that since Muhammad's time, Ali was the only person born in the Kaaba sanctuary in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. His father was Abu Talib and his mother was Fatima bint Asad, but he was raised in the household of Muhammad, who himself was raised by Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, and Ali's father. When Muhammad reported receiving a divine revelation, Ali was the first male to accept his message, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam.
  
  wn.com/Ali
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  Ali Abdullah Saleh
  Ali Abdullah Saleh (Arabic: علي عبدالله صالح‎; born 21 March 1942) is a Yemeni politician who was President of Yemen from 1990 to 2012. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) from 1978 until 1990; upon the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen in 1990, he became President of Yemen.
  After more than 33 years in power, Saleh signed the Gulf Cooperation Council agreement in November 2011, paving the way for his vice president to become acting president until February 21, 2012; at that point the vice president would be elected to the presidency. On January 22, 2012, the Yemeni parliament passed a law that granted Saleh immunity from being prosecuted and he left Yemen for treatment in the United States. Saleh stepped down and formally ceded power to his deputy Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi at the Presidential Palace on 27 February 2012.
  Saleh was born in the town of Bait el-Ahmar, in the Al-Ahmar family of the small Sanhan tribe, a tribe whose territories lie some 20 kilometers southeast of the capital Sana'a (the Al-Ahmar family of Sanhan is often falsely confounded with the same-named ruling family of the Hashid tribal confederacy, a confederacy to which the Sanhan tribe belongs). Saleh is a Zaydi Shia Muslim. He is a "non-Hashimi" Zaydi (not a direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's grandfather), and would not have been eligible to rule under the Zaydi Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen that ruled the country until 1962.
  
  wn.com/Ali_Abdullah_Saleh
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  Ali bin Abi Talib
  Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب, Transliteration: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [ʕaliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤɑːlib]; 13^thRajab, 24 BH–21^stRamaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661). The son of Abu Talib, Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shia branches.
  Muslim sources, especially Shia ones, state that since Muhammad's time, Ali was the only person born in the Kaaba sanctuary in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. His father was Abu Talib and his mother was Fatima bint Asad, but he was raised in the household of Muhammad, who himself was raised by Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, and Ali's father. When Muhammad reported receiving a divine revelation, Ali was the first male to accept his message, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam.
  
  wn.com/Ali_bin_Abi_Talib
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  Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar
  Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (Arabic: علي محسن الأحمر‎ also called Ali Mohsen Saleh Arabic: علي محسن صالح‎) is the general of the Yemeni army. Born in Sanhan village, Sana'a - Yemen on 20 June 1945. He is rumored to be the half brother of the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh from a different father.^{[citation needed]}. He serves as President Saleh's chief military adviser. He helped recruit Islamist radicals to fight in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War.
  On March 21, 2011, he said he would protect the anti-government Yemeni protesters, along with other top Yemeni army commanders, in a move that was later condemned as mutinous by President Saleh.
  
  wn.com/Ali_Mohsen_al-Ahmar
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  Andrey Korotayev
  Andrey Korotayev (Андре́й Вита́льевич Корота́ев, born 1961) is a Russian anthropologist, economic historian, and sociologist, with major contributions to world-systems theory, cross-cultural studies, Near Eastern history, Big History, and mathematical modeling of social and economic macrodynamics.
  Born in Moscow, Andrey Korotayev attended Moscow State University, where he received a B.A. degree in 1984 and an M.A. in 1989. He earned a Ph.D. in 1993 from Manchester University, and in 1998 a Doctor of Sciences degree from the Russian Academy of Sciences.
  Since 2000, he has been Professor and Director of the Anthropology of the East Center at the Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, and Senior Research Professor in the Oriental Institute and Institute for African Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2001-2003, he also directed the "Anthropology of the East" Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
  In 2003-2004, he was a visiting member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ.[4]
  
  wn.com/Andrey_Korotayev
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  Bashar al-Assad
  Bashar Hafez al-Assad (Arabic: بشار حافظ الأسد‎, Baššār al-ʾAsad, ‎‎‎Arabic pronunciation: [bæʃˈʃɑːɾɪlˈʔæsæd])‎; born 11 September 1965) is the current President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000.
  Al-Assad graduated from the medical school of the University of Damascus in 1988, and started to work as a doctor in the army. Four years later, he attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital, in London, specializing in ophthalmology. In 1994, Al-Assad entered the military academy and in 1998, Al-Assad took charge of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In December 2000, Assad married Asma Assad, née Akhras. Al-Assad was elected as President of Syria in 2000 and 2007, unopposed each time. During the Syrian uprising, activists and protesters have called for President al-Assad's resignation.
  Bashar Hafez al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, the son of Aniseh (née Makhluf) and Hafez al-Assad. His father, Hafez al-Assad, born to a poor family of Alawite background, had risen through the Party ranks, to take control of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in the 1970 Corrective Revolution, thus installing himself as president. Hafez al-Assad purged the Party, and introduced effective Alawite rule of Syria.
  
  wn.com/Bashar_al-Assad
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  Essam Sharaf
  Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf (Arabic: عصام عبد العزيز شرف‎, IPA: [ʕeˈsˤɑːm ʕæbdelʕæˈziːz ʃɑɾˤɑf]; born 1952) is an Egyptian academic who was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 3 March 2011 to 7 December 2011. He served as Minister of Transportation from 2004 to 2005.
  Sharaf was born in the Egyptian city of Giza in 1952. After receiving his B.Sc. in civil engineering from Cairo University in 1975, he went to Purdue University where he continued his studies, receiving his M.Sc. Engg in 1980 and his Ph.D. in 1984.
  Sharaf took a post as a visiting assistant professor at Purdue in 1984 before becoming assistant professor of Highway and Traffic Engineering at the University of Cairo the following year. In 1990, he was an assistant professor in Civil Engineering at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. He returned to the University of Cairo in 1991, becoming a professor of Highway Engineering in 1996 while working as senior advisor for the Transportation & Aviation department in Zuhair Fayez Partnership (ZFP) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Sharaf was the senior adviser to the Egyptian Minister of Transport in 1999 and the Senior Technical Adviser to the municipality of Al Ain in the UAE in 2003.
  
  wn.com/Essam_Sharaf
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  Gigi Ibrahim
  Gihan Ibrahim (Egyptian Arabic: چيهان إبراهيم, IPA: [ʒiˈhæːn ebɾˤɑˈhiːm]), nicknamed Gigi (چيچى, [ˈʒiːʒi], b. 1988), is an Egyptian journalist, blogger and socialist activist. She has been credited as being a part of a new generation of "citizen journalists" who document news events using social media. For this she was featured on a cover of Time magazine as "one of the leaders" of Tahrir Square during the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. Ibrahim however states, that while the internet was important for coordinating people in the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, "it was the battles on the streets that were crucial ... [i]t was their power that made the revolution."
  She is a graduate from the American University in Cairo where she earned a political science degree. Prior to university, Gigi has had no direct links to the workers protests and opposition movements that had previously been occurring in Egypt. It was a lecture on "Social Mobilization under Authoritarian Regimes", where her future husband Hossam el-Hamalawy was a guest speaker, that provided her with insight about activism in Egypt. The contact with el-Hamalawy, a member of the Revolutionary Socialists, led her to decide to join the movement.
  
  wn.com/Gigi_Ibrahim
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  Hasan Mushaima
  Hasan Mushaima (Arabic: حسن مشيمع‎) is an opposition leader in Bahrain and the secretary-general of the Haq Movement, an important opposition party in Bahrain. He is campaigning for more democratic rights in Bahrain. Before forming Haq, he was a founding member of Al Wefaq and a leading figure in the 1994 uprising in Bahrain.
  The Bahraini government has placed Mushaima under arrest several times, twice arresting him during the 1994 uprising. He was later jailed from March 1995 to September 1995 and again from January 1996 till February 2001. Mushaima was re-arrested in February 2007 and jailed for one day, and then was arrested and imprisoned again from January 2009 to April 2009.
  In 2010 Mushaima traveled to Great Britain to be treated for lung cancer.
  Mushaima announced plans to return to Bahrain during the protests in February 2011, but authorities detained him in Lebanon while en route, possibly at the request of the Bahraini government. Mushaima finally did return to Bahrain on Saturday, February 26, 2011. On that day, he was described by the Associated Press as being "welcomed like a rock star," by protestors in Pearl Square. On 7th March, 2011, Mushaima alongside with Abdulwahab Hussain, the leader of Wafa movement and Saeed Alshehabi the leader of the Bahrain Freedom Movement, formed the " Alliance for the Republic " (Arabic:التحالف من أجل الجمهورية), because of their belief that the Bahraini regime lost legitimacy after the harsh crackdown on protesters using heavy weapons. One months after protests, the Gulf Cooperation Council sent 1,500+ PSF troops (1,000 Saudi, some Qatari troops and 500 Emirati policemen) to crush the popular uprising there and also sent the Kuwaiti Navy to stop any aid to the protesters by sea. After the protesters were kicked from the Pearl Roundabout, many known rights activists operating in Bahrain were arrested, including Mushaima.
  
  wn.com/Hasan_Mushaima
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  Hassan al-Turabi
  Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi (born c.1932 in Kassala), is a religious and Islamist political leader in Sudan, who may have been instrumental in institutionalizing sharia in the northern part of the country. He has been called a "longtime hard-line ideological leader.".
  Al-Turabi was leader of the National Islamic Front, a political movement with considerable political power in Sudan but little popularity among voters. In 1979 he became Minister of Justice. In June 1989, a coup d'état by allies, the "National Salvation Revolution", brought him and the National Islamic Front to power.
  In March 1996, al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s." This period coincided with a decline in the influence of al-Turabi and his party's "internationalist and ideological wing" in favor of more pragmatic leaders, brought on by the imposition of UN sanctions on Sudan in punishment for Sudan's assistance to Egyptian terrorists in their attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
  
  wn.com/Hassan_al-Turabi
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  Himyar
  The Himyarite Kingdom or Himyar (in Arabic مملكة حِمْيَر mamlakat ħimyâr) (r. 110 BC–520s), historically referred to as the Homerite Kingdom by the Greeks and the Romans, was a kingdom in ancient Yemen. Established in 110 BC, it took as its capital the modern day city of Sana'a after the ancient city of Zafar. The Kingdom conquered neighbouring Saba (Sheba) in c.25 BC, Qataban in c.200 CE, and Hadramaut c.300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Saba changed frequently until it finally conquered the Sabaean Kingdom around 280 CE.
  The Himyarite Kingdom was the dominant polity in Arabia until 525 AD. Its economy was based on agriculture, and foreign trade centered on the export of frankincense and myrrh. For many years, the kingdom was also the major intermediary linking East Africa and the Mediterranean world. This trade largely consisted of exporting ivory from Africa to be sold in the Roman Empire. Ships from Himyar regularly traveled the East African coast, and the state also exerted a large amount of Influence both cultural religious and political to the trading cities of East Africa whilst the cities of East Africa remained independent. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the trading empire of Himyar and its ruler Charibael (Karab Il Watar Yuhan'em II), who is said to have been on friendly terms with Rome:
  
  wn.com/Himyar
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  Hosni Mubarak
  Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (Arabic: محمد حسني السيد مبارك‎, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħæmːæd ˈħosni ˈsæjjed moˈbɑːɾˤɑk], Muḥammad Ḥusnī Sayyid Mubārak; born 4 May 1928) is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
  Mubarak was appointed Vice President of Egypt in 1975, and assumed the presidency on 14 October 1981, following the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. His almost thirty-year presidency made him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force, serving as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rising to the rank of air chief marshal.
  Mubarak was ousted after 18 days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution when, on 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. On 13 April, a prosecutor^[which?] ordered Mubarak and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power. He was then ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the revolution. These trials officially began on 3 August 2011. Egypt’s military prosecutors then also proclaimed that they are investigating Mubarak's role in the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat.
  
  wn.com/Hosni_Mubarak
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  Imam Ahmad
  Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani (Arabic: احمد بن محمد بن حنبل ابو عبد الله الشيباني‎) was an important Muslim scholar and theologian. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Imam Ahmad is one of the most celebrated Sunni theologians, often referred to as "Sheikh ul-Islam" or the "Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah," honorifics given to the most esteemed doctrinal authorities in the Sunni tradition. Imam Ahmad personified the theological views of the early orthodox scholars, including the founders of the other extant schools of Sunni fiqh, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik ibn Anas, and Imam ash-Shafi`i.
  Ahmad ibn Hanbal's family was originally from Basra, Iraq, and belonged to the Arab Banu Shayban tribe. His father was an officer in the Abbasid army in Khorasan and later settled with his family in Baghdad, where Ahmad was born in 780 CE.
  Ibn Hanbal had two wives and several children, including an older son, who later became a judge in Isfahan.
  
  wn.com/Imam_Ahmad
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  Khaled al-Johani
  Khaled al-Johani (also al-Jehani, Arabic: خالد الجهني, born 1969/1970 (age 42–43)) is a teacher of religious instruction in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was imprisoned, without charges or trial for nearly one year, at `Ulaysha Prison for having publicly asked for freedoms and democracy in Saudi Arabia – an absolute monarchy – during the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests. His public statement was made to a BBC Arabic Television team on a street in Riyadh in the presence of security forces. On 22 February 2012 he was charged in a court for al-Qaeda suspects and a trial date set for April 2012. Al-Johani is an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience as of February 2012^[update].
  After the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011, some protests took place in Saudi Arabia. A "Day of Rage" was proposed for Saudi Arabia for 11 March 2011. On that day, hundreds of people protested in Qatif, al-Awamiyah and Hofuf, but in Riyadh, the police presence was "overwhelming" by early in the morning, with large numbers of police cars present and helicopters that "crisscrossed the skies all day".
  
  wn.com/Khaled_al-Johani
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  Khalid ibn al-Walid
  Khālid ibn al-Walīd (Arabic: خالد بن الوليد‎; 592–642) also known as Sayf Allāh al-Maslūl (the Drawn Sword of God), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is noted for his military tactics and prowess, commanding the forces of Medina under Muhammad and the forces of his immediate successors of the Rashidun Caliphate; Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Khattab. It was under his military leadership that Arabia, for the first time in history, was united under a single political entity, the Caliphate. He was victorious in over a hundred battles, against the forces of the Byzantine-Roman Empire, Sassanid-Persian Empire, and their allies, in addition to other Arab tribes. His strategic achievements include the conquest of Arabia, Persian Mesopotamia and Roman Syria within several years from 632 to 636. He is also remembered for his decisive victories at Yamamah, Ullais, and Firaz, and his tactical successes at Walaja and Yarmouk.
  
  wn.com/Khalid_ibn_al-Walid
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  Libyan civil war
  The Libyan civil war (also referred to as the Libyan revolution), was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on Tuesday, 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security forces that fired on the crowd. The protests escalated into a rebellion that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transitional Council.
  The United Nations Security Council passed an initial resolution on 26 February, freezing the assets of Gaddafi and his inner circle and restricting their travel, and referred the matter to the International Criminal Court for investigation. In early March, Gaddafi's forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before attacking Benghazi. A further U.N. resolution authorised member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and to use "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks on civilians. The Gaddafi government then announced a ceasefire, but failed to uphold it, though it then accused rebels of violating the ceasefire when they continued to fight as well. Throughout the conflict, rebels rejected government offers of a ceasefire and efforts by the African Union to end the fighting because the plans set forth did not include the removal of Gaddafi.
  
  wn.com/Libyan_civil_war
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  Mahmoud Jibril
  Mahmoud Jibril el-Warfally (Arabic: محمود جبريل الورفلي‎), also transcribed Jabril or Jebril or Gebril, (born 28 May 1952) is a Libyan politician who served as the interim Prime Minister of Libya for seven and a half months during the Libyan civil war, chairing the executive board of the National Transitional Council from 5 March to 23 October 2011. He also served as the Head of International Affairs.
  Toward the end of the conflict, Jibril was increasingly referred to by foreign governments and in media as the interim prime minister of Libya rather than as the chairman of the executive board, the title used to describe him on the NTC's website, but it was unclear whether this was an official title or simply referred to his position as the provisional council's head of government. Jibril's government was recognized as the "sole legitimate representative" of Libya by the majority of UN states including France, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Iran and Qatar.
  Jibril graduated in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University in 1975, then earned a master's degree in political science in 1980 and a doctorate in political science in 1985, both from the University of Pittsburgh. He taught strategic planning at Pittsburgh for several years.
  
  wn.com/Mahmoud_Jibril
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  Manal al-Sharif
  Manal al-Sharif is a women's rights activist from Saudi Arabia who helped start a women's right to drive campaign in 2011. A women's rights activist who had previously filmed herself driving, Wajeha al-Huwaider, filmed al-Sharif driving a car as part of the campaign. The video was posted on YouTube and Facebook. Al-Sharif was detained and released on 21 May and rearrested the following day. On 30 May, al-Sharif was released on bail, on the conditions of returning for questioning if requested, not driving and not talking to the media.The New York Times and Associated Press associated the women's driving campaign with the wider pattern of Arab world protests and the long duration of al-Sharif's detention with Saudi authorities' fear of protests.
  Manal al-Sharif graduated from King Abdulaziz University with a Bachelor of Science in computing and a Cisco Career Certification. Until May 2012, she worked as an Internet Security Consultant for Saudi Aramco, the Saudi national oil company.
  Al-Sharif has said that she sympathized with Islamic radicals as a girl, but her views shifted when she connected to the Internet in 2000, and when she saw television footage of the September 11 attacks: "When al-Qaida took responsibility for the attacks, I realized my heroes were nothing but bloody terrorists."
  
  wn.com/Manal_al-Sharif
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  Marouf al-Bakhit
  Dr. Marouf Suleiman al-Bakhit (Arabic: معروف البخيت‎, born 1947) is a Jordanian politician and two-time Prime Minister. He first served as Prime Minister from 27 November 2005 until 25 November 2007 and then again from 9 February 2011 to 17 October 2011. Bakhit also held the position of Jordanian ambassador to Israel and the national security chief. Appointed as Prime Minister by King Abdullah II less than three weeks after the 2005 Amman bombings, Bakhit's main priorities were to maintain security and stability in Jordan. He was reappointed as Prime Minister by the King on 1 February 2011, following weeks of protests.
  He resigned from his post on 17 October 2011, and was succeeded by Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh on 24 October.
  Bakhit graduated with a Bachelor's degree in General Management and Political Science from University of Jordan. He also earned a Master's degree in Management from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in War Studies from King's College London in 1990.
  Marouf al-Bakhit comes from Jordan's Al-Abbadi Tribe. He joined the Jordanian Armed Forces in 1964, and graduated from the Royal Military College in 1966 as Second Lieutenant. He retired from the Armed Forces in 1999 as Major General.
  
  wn.com/Marouf_al-Bakhit
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  Mohamed Bouazizi
  Mohamed Bouazizi (29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011; Arabic: محمد البوعزيزي‎) was a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, in protest of the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation that he reported was inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides. His act became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring, inciting demonstrations and riots throughout Tunisia in protest of social and political issues in the country. The public's anger and violence intensified following Bouazizi's death, leading then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down on 14 January 2011, after 23 years in power.
  The success of the Tunisian protests inspired protests in several other Arab countries, plus several non-Arab countries. The protests included several men who emulated Bouazizi's act of self-immolation, in an attempt to bring an end to their own autocratic governments. Those men and Bouazizi were hailed by some Arab commentators as "heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution."
  
  wn.com/Mohamed_Bouazizi
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  Mohammed Nabbous
  Mohamed "Mo" Nabbous (محمد نبوس ‎; 27 February 1983 – 19 March 2011) was a Libyan information technologist, blogger, businessperson and civilian journalist who created and founded Libya Al Hurra TV.
  In the wake of the 2011 Libyan civil war, Nabbous founded Libya Alhurra TV, the first independent broadcast news organization since Gaddafi took power in Libya. Libya AlHurra TV was established in Benghazi, Libya on 19 February 2011 and started broadcasting online when Nabbous established a two-way satellite connection in the wake of a complete Internet blackout imposed by the Gaddafi regime subsequent to the 17 February protests.
  Nabbous was shot by a Pro-Gaddafi sniper and killed on 19 March 2011 while reporting on attempts by government forces to fight revolutionaries and attack civilians in Benghazi. In the hours following the death of Nabbous, UN Coalition planes entered Libyan airspace to enforce a No-Fly Zone approved by the UN Security Council along with a Resolution authorizing "all necessary measures" to protect civilians against Gaddafi forces. In the last weeks of his life, Nabbous focused on bringing international attention to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Libya. His death was widely reported by CNN and various media outlets. Prior to the establishment of Libya Al Hurra TV, Nabbous operated a number of businesses in Benghazi City.
  
  wn.com/Mohammed_Nabbous
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  Muammar Gaddafi
  Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (Arabic: معمر محمد أبو منيار القذافي‎) (June 1942 – 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi  /ˈmoʊ.əmɑr ɡəˈdɑːfi/ (Arabic: مُعَمَّر القَذَّافِي‎ Muʿammar al-Qaḏḏāfī  audio (help·info)) or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. Gaddafi seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1969 and served as the country's head of state until 1977, when he stepped down from his official executive role as Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya, and claimed subsequently to be merely a symbolic figurehead. He styled himself as "Leader of the Revolution"; in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers bestowed on him the title "King of Kings". A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February 2009 to 31 January 2010.
  Gaddafi replaced the Libyan Constitution of 1951 with laws based on the political ideology he had formulated, which he called the Third International Theory and published in The Green Book. After establishing the Jamahiriya (جماهيرية, "state of the masses") system in 1977, he officially stepped down from power and after that time held a largely symbolic role within the country's official governance structure. Rising oil prices and extraction in Libya led to increasing revenues. By exporting as much oil per capita as Saudi Arabia and through various welfare programs, Libya achieved the highest living standards in Africa; Libya remained debt-free.
  
  wn.com/Muammar_Gaddafi
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  Muhammad
  Muhammad (c. 26 April 570 – 8 June 632; also transliterated as Mohammad, Mohammed, or Muhammed; Arabic: محمد‎), full name: Muhammad Ibn `Abd Allāh Ibn `Abd al-Muttalib (Arabic: محمد بن عبدالله بن عبد المطلب ‎) was a leader from Mecca who unified the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity under Islam. He is believed by Muslims and Bahá'ís to be a messenger and prophet of God. Muslims believe that Islam was not his own invention but was revealed by God, and most consider him to be the last prophet of God Muslims thus consider him the restorer of an uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.
  Born in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, he was orphaned at an early age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Being in the habit of periodically retreating to a cave in the surrounding mountains for several nights of meditation and prayer, he later reported that it was there, at age 40, that he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām) is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as other Islamic prophets.
  
  wn.com/Muhammad
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  Mustafa Abdul Jalil
  Mustafa Abdul Jalil or Abdul-Jalil (Arabic: مصطفى عبد الجليل‎, also transcribed Abdul-Jelil, Abd-al-Jalil,Abdel-Jalil, Abdeljalil or Abdu Al Jeleil) (born 1952) is the Chairman of the National Transitional Council of Libya, and as such serves as head of state in Libya's caretaker government which was formed as a result of the 2011 Libyan civil war. He is also a spokesman for the city of Bayda.
  From 2007 to 2011, Abdul Jalil was Minister of Justice (officially, the Secretary of the General People's Committee of Justice) under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. He has been noted in some news media for his stance against various human rights violations in Libya, although others express a different view and accuse him, for example, of intransigence during the appeal by the Bulgarian nurses (that sentence was later converted to life imprisonment and the nurses were eventually released). During the civil war, Abdul Jalil was identified as the Chairman of the National Transitional Council based in Benghazi, although this position was contested by others in the uprising due to his past direct participation in Gaddafi's government as Minister of Justice for four years until 2011.}
  
  wn.com/Mustafa_Abdul_Jalil
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  Omar Suleiman
  Omar Suleiman (Arabic: عمر سليمان‎, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈʕomɑɾˤ seleˈmæːn]; born 2 July 1936) is a former Egyptian army general, politician, diplomat, and intelligence officer. A leading figure in Egypt's intelligence system beginning in 1986, Suleiman was appointed to the long-vacant Vice Presidency by then-President Hosni Mubarak on 29 January 2011. On 11 February 2011, Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation and ceased being Vice President; governing power was transferred to the Armed Forces Supreme Council, of which Suleiman is not a member. A new head of intelligence services was appointed by the ruling Supreme Council. Suleiman withdrew from the political scene and did not appear in public after announcing Mubarak's resignation.
  Millions of Egyptian citizens involved in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 opposed Suleiman or Mubarak remaining in power without elections taking place. Human rights groups tied Suleiman’s career to a regime marked by widespread human rights abuses, and asserted that many Egyptians "see Suleiman as Mubarak II." Torture victims and human rights groups charged that Suleiman oversaw the systematic use of torture on detainees and that in at least one instance he personally tortured a detainee during his career in intelligence. In response to the 2011 protests, Suleiman blamed foreign influence and appealed to protestors to go home.
  
  wn.com/Omar_Suleiman
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  Sabaeans
  The Sabaeans or Sabeans (Arabic: السبأيون‎ as-Saba’iyūn) were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who lived in what is today Yemen, in the south west of the Arabian Peninsula.
  Some scholars suggest a link between the Sabaeans and the Biblical land of Sheba, and would dismiss any link or confusion with the Sabians.
  The ancient Sabaean Kingdom established power in the early 1st millennium BC. In the 1st century BC it was conquered by the Himyarites, but after the disintegration of the first Himyarite empire of the Kings of Saba' and Dhu-Raydan, the Middle Sabaean Kingdom reappeared in the early 2nd century. It was finally conquered by the Himyarites in the late 3rd century. Its capital was Ma'rib. The kingdom was located along the strip of desert called Sayhad by medieval Arab geographers, which is now named Ramlat al-Sab`atayn.
  The Sabaean people were South Arabian people. Each of these had regional kingdoms in ancient Yemen, with the Minaeans in the north in Wadi al-Jawf, the Sabeans on the south western tip, stretching from the highlands to the sea, the Qatabanians to the east of them and the Hadramites east of them.
  
  wn.com/Sabaeans
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  Sadiq al-Ahmar
  Sheikh Sadiq bin Abdullah bin Hussein bin Nasser al-Ahmar (born 6 October 1956 in al-Khamri, 'Amran Governorate, Yemen) is a Yemeni politician and the leader of the Hashid tribal federation and the Al-Islah tribal confederacy. He succeeded his father Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar in these positions after Abdullah's death in 2007. He is best known for his role in the 2011 Yemeni uprising, in which fighters under his command attacked and seized government facilities in the Battle of Sana'a.
  Sadiq al-Ahmar was born on 6 October 1956 in the village of al-Khamri, located in the 'Amran Governorate of Yemen. His family moved to Sana'a after the establishment of North Yemen. He studied at the undergraduate level in Egypt until his father's relationship with the Egyptian government deteriorated, forcing Sadiq to move back to Yemen to complete his studies. Sadiq continued his studies in the United States beginning in 1982 after graduating in Yemen. He returned to Yemen shortly after earning his small aircraft pilot's licence in 1987.
  
  wn.com/Sadiq_al-Ahmar
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  Samir Rifai
  Samir Zaid al-Rifai (Arabic: سمير زيد الرفاعي‎) (born July 1, 1966) is a Jordanian politician of Palestinian descent, who was Prime Minister of Jordan from 14 December 2009 to 1 February 2011. He was replaced by Marouf al-Bakhit by the king Abdullah II, following weeks of protests in the country. He is the son of former Prime Minister Zaid al-Rifai and grandson of Samir al-Rifai.
  Rifai was born in to a prominent Palestinian family hailing from Safed in Northern Palestine. He took admission in Harvard University in 1984 and received his bachelor's degree in Middle East Studies in 1988, Samir Rifai began his career working in the Royal Court in 1988, He obtained his master's degree in International Relations from Cambridge University in 1989. In 1999 he was appointed Secretary General of the Royal Hashemite Court where he oversaw the implementation of an integrated program for restructuring the administrative and financial affairs office, also took over the Information Office and the Public Relations Department of King Abdullah II. In 2003, he was appointed Minister of the Hashemite Royal Court to represent the fundamental link between the King and the Government. In April 2005, Rifai was appointed adviser to the King, and continued in that position until the end of 2005.
  
  wn.com/Samir_Rifai
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  Tawakel Karman
  -- | name = Tawakkul Karman | image = Tawakkol Karman.jpg | native_name = توكل كرمان | native_name_lang = Arabic | image_size = | alt = Tawakul Karman | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = (1979-02-07) 7 February 1979 (age 33) | birth_place = Taiz, Yemen | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | nationality = Yemeni | party = Al-Islah | movement = Jasmine Revolution | influences = Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela | religion = Sunni Islam | spouse = Mohammed al-Nahmi | children = Three | parents = Abdel Salam Karman | occupation = Journalist, politician and human rights activist | awards = 2011 Nobel Peace Prize }}
  Tawakul Karman (Arabic: توكل كرمان ‎ Tawak[k]ul Karmān) (Anglicised: Tawakul,Tawakkol,Tawakkul or Tawakel Abdel-Salam Karman) (born 7 February 1979) became the international public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising that is part of the Arab Spring uprisings. She has been called by Yemenis the "Iron Woman" and "Mother of the Revolution." She is a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Prize and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate to date.
  
  wn.com/Tawakel_Karman
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  Wael Ghonim
  Wael Ghonim (Arabic: وائل غنيم‎, IPA: [ˈwæːʔel ɣoˈneːm]; other transliterations include: Ghoneim, Ghonaim) (born 23 December 1980 in Cairo, Egypt) is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship.
  In 2011, he became an international figure and energized pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt after his emotional interview following 11 days of secret incarceration by Egyptian police—during which he was interrogated regarding his work as the administrator of the Facebook page, "We are all Khaled Saeed", which helped spark the revolution. The TIME magazine added him in its "Time 100" list of 100 most influential people of 2011.
  Wael Ghonim was born to a middle-class family on 23 December 1980 in Cairo, Egypt and grew up in Abha, Saudi Arabia until he was 13 years old, then he moved back to live in Cairo. In January 2010, Wael was promoted to Head of Marketing at Google in the Middle East & North Africa and moved to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
  He earned a BS in computer engineering from Cairo University in 2004 and an MBA, with honors, in marketing and finance from the American University in Cairo in 2007.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Wael_Ghonim